No performance-based pay for NFL players this year

Andrew Mills/The Star-LedgerGiants wide receivers Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks won't get any performance-based pay from the NFL this year. The program, begun in 2002, has been suspended the past two seasons.

From 2002 through the 2009 season, the NFL had a system in which players who had big seasons on little salaries would be somewhat compensated in the form of performance-based pay.

Last year, following the uncapped season, such players didn't get those checks. This year, they won't get them either.

Per NFL Players Association spokesman Carl Francis, there will be no performance-based pay pursuant to the 2011 season, meaning players such as the Giants' Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks will miss out on a few hundred thousand bucks.

Francis wrote in an email that money has been allocated elsewhere to overall salaries and benefits following the lockout and the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. One example of where such money has been redirected was the $3-million salary-cap exemption teams received to keep veterans this past season. This season, teams will have three $1.5-million exemptions.

According to Francis, performance-based pay is a part of the new CBA and will be paid out in the future, though the league and the union are "still negotiating the language."

Cruz, who set a franchise-record with 1,536 yards, was a starter for much of the second half of the regular season, so he would've been high on the list this season after making only $450,000 in base salary. Nicks, who earned a $575,000 base salary, started 15 games. Tight end Jake Ballard and defensive tackle Linval Joseph, both of whom earned $450,000 in base salary in 2011, are two other players who probably would've received a check close to their salary.

Cruz said in an interview with ProFootballTalk.com after the Super Bowl, "I feel like I deserve to be paid more money at this point," though he reiterated later in the day he'd let his agents handle the business side of things. Performance-based pay wouldn't have been a multi-million deal, but a check might've helped soften the blow. There are no indications at this point Cruz plans to take a hard stance in negotiations, such as a holdout.

Sheridan had one miserable year as the Giants' coordinator in 2009 before being fired the day after the season ended. He was the Dolphins' linebackers coach the past two years and recently accepted a position on Urban Meyer's staff at Ohio State. But that obviously didn't last very long.

The Giants face the Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium next season. The date of the game is to be determined.